Police blotter

The following accounts were taken from reports filed with the Columbia County Sheriff's Office.

Missing tires render mower unusable

A Martinez man recently reported tires from his riding lawn mower missing.

Mark F. Weathers, 31 - the owner of New Leaf Groundsman - left an open trailer of equipment parked on the east side of his home on the 100 block of Cyndee Drive, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report said. Burglars stole more than $500 of lawn equipment including a push mower, weed trimmer and edger.

Roommates robbed while at work

Two Martinez roommates returned home after work to find their home burglarized.

Emily Lawrence Melton, 20, found a suitcase open in the middle of the living room floor of the home she shares with Timothy William Ryan, 21, on the 4000 block of Keen Street, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report stated. Realizing neither had left it there, they called police. Pry marks were found around the back door's knob.

Nothing belonging to Melton was taken, the report stated. But Ryan reported more than $1,800 worth of stolen items including an Ibanez bass guitar, a Playstation game console and several DVDs.

Robbing duo trick Kroger shopper

A woman distracted an elderly Kroger shopper recently while her partner stole the woman's wallet, said a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.

Elizabeth E. Beneteau, 69, of the 100 block of Darrow Street in Augusta, was shopping in the meat department of Kroger on Columbia Road recently, when a woman asked her to read the label of a meat package for her, the report stated.

While Beneteau was reading the label for a woman she described as white, late 30s, 5 feet 7 inches, 170 pounds and with dark hair, she felt a bump to her shopping cart, which had her open purse on the top rack.

Beneteau looked to see a white male near it, the report stated. She finished the label and the woman left. The shopper discovered her wallet, holding her driver's license, checkbook, department store credit cards and $133 cash, was missing when she went to the check-out.

Thieves take heavy equipment

An Augusta home-building company recently reported the theft of a tractor with a front-end loader from an Evans construction site.

John David Crawford, 22, superintendent of Down East Home Builders, arrived at the Bainbridge Drive site to find the $29,000 tractor missing, a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report stated.

Two guns missing in burglary

A Martinez home was burglarized recently, and two handguns and some jewelry is missing.

Burglars forcibly entered the home of Warren Jackson Oliver, 51, in the 4400 block of Shadowmoore Drive through a rear sliding glass door, said a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.

The burglars then broke into a locked closet inside the home, taking a Walther .380 automatic pistol with eight Black Talon bullets and a Browning A-5 pistol, the report stated. Also stolen was a gold rope necklace and a men's gold band with three diamonds - a total of almost $7,000 of stolen merchandise.

Construction-site vandals hit large equipment

A utility company is down two heavy machines after vandals damaged them on a construction site recently.

Hubert Dee Haire, 32, owner of Haire Utilities, arrived at a construction site on Ridge Road and found someone had put dirt into the oil tanks of a Caterpillar motor grader and a backhoe, stated a Columbia County Sheriff's Office incident report.

Some of the machines' fuel and electrical lines also were cut, totaling about $2,000 damage.